Murphy gets a Democratic primary opponent

Gov. Phil Murphy has an opponent in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Roger W. Bacon, a 72-year-old perennial candidate and Phillipsburg resident, filed nominating petitions on Tuesday to take on Murphy under the slogan “Make New Jersey Great Again.”

“People in New Jersey haven’t lived under this kind of tyranny since our ancestors drove the British out in the 1700s,’ Bacon said.  “We need to abolish emergency powers and get back to normal.  We are not a monarchy.”

Bacon said he decided to run because “any incumbent should be challenged” and said he’ll run a grass-roots campaign – his way of saying he doesn’t expect to raise any money.

He also portrayed himself as the “voice of the victims of Phil Murphy.”

“I think of the poor waitresses when he shut down the diners,” Bacon said.

Bacon is making his sixth bid for public office and his second run for governor.

In 2009, Bacon was one of three Democrats who mounted primary challenges to incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine.  Corzine won 77% of the vote in that race, followed by former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson (9%), 9/11 conspiracy theorist Jeff Boss (8%), and Bacon (6%).

Corzine’s failure to get the votes of nearly one-in-four Democratic primary voters in a field where no candidate raised money or mounted any real campaign foreshadowed a problem he had within his own party, a factor that heavily contributed to his general election loss to Republican Chris Christie.

Bacon began running for office in 1992 as the Libertarian candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 2nd district.  Rep. Bill Hughes (D-Ocean City) was re-elected that year by a 56%-41% margin against Assemblyman Frank LoBiondo (R-Vineland).  Bacon won 1% of the vote, finishing third in a five-candidate contest.

In 1993, he won 8% of the vote in a two-way State Senate race against incumbent Bill Schluter (R-Pennington).  Democrats did not nominate a candidate and Schluter won 92%.  As the Libertarian candidate against Rep. Marge Roukema (R-Ridgewood) in 1994, he won 1.5%.

Bacon lost a Republican primary for Congress against Roukema in 1996 – he won 6% — and a Democratic primary in the same district in 2008 for the chance to take on Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage).

Taking on Garrett, who lost his seat to Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) in 2016, left Bacon with some regrets.

“We need a guy like that today,” he said.